What this guide covers
The mechanics of sales tax, the surtax set at the county level, what triggers an obligation to collect in a state where you are not established, and the filing schedule. A subject with no European equivalent: VAT is national, this is not.
What exists
The state rate
Florida applies a state rate on goods and on certain services, with special rates for a few categories such as commercial rent.
The county surtax
Each county may add its own surtax. Two clients twenty miles apart on the corridor can therefore fall under different rates.
Economic nexus
A business may have to collect tax in a state where it has no office, purely through its volume of remote sales. Each state sets its own thresholds.
Filing schedule
Monthly, quarterly or annual depending on volume, with a due date and late penalties. The schedule is assigned at registration and changes with activity.
What surprises people arriving from Europe or Quebec
There is not one rate but hundreds, and it is the delivery address that governs, not the seller’s. A company selling online across several states can fall under dozens of tax jurisdictions without ever leaving Orlando.
Where it gets complicated
Nexus is triggered by crossing a threshold, with no agency telling you. A fast-growing company can discover it owes in several states, retroactively, during an audit or a sale process.
Official sources
- Florida Department of Revenue, sales and use tax
- Florida DOR, rates by county
- Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board
What French Executive Network can do
Introduce you to the French-speaking business lawyers, accountants and tax advisers in the network who handle this subject, and to the members who have already been through it.